Imtiaz Enterprises to ship GlobalGap Pakistan melons

This summer Pakistanís leading fresh fruits and vegetable exporter, Imtiaz Enterprises are ready to ship Global-GAP certified Sweet Mangoes to their worldwide consumers. The last year success of by sea trial mango shipments to Europe has led them to take such major steps. Viewing the demand of by sea mango to Europe, the company management has taken a decision to provide only GLOBALG.A.P produced mangoes to their European and Canadian consumers. A lot of care is being taken to procure the top varieties of mangoes that are produced in a safe environmental-friendly way and to ensure minimum usage of pesticides. Imtiaz Enterprises ships around 7000 tons of mangoes in a year and is a market leader in terms of both quantity and quality.

Mr. Imtiaz Hussain Managing Director of IMTIAZ ENTERPRISES Pakistan is also estimated to be facing a 30% loss in production due to climatic changes in the country. Production is likely to stand around 1.2 million tons of mangoes against the production of 1.7 million tons recorded during the previous season.

The officials has set a target of around 135,000 tones but we are confident that with our better management practices and application of modern techniques we will surpass this mango export target in this season very easily.

He suggested a number of measures that could be taken to improve the situation - training in food processing techniques, improvement of current infrastructure, movement of capital and the creation of a more conducive business environment generally in which small scale operations could flourish.

"More and more consumers around the world are looking for products that are produced safely, responsibly and that match their expectations. Globally agricultural business conditions are still tough and highly competitive, but this will not dampen consumersí enthusiasm and demand for high-quality food products. We have experienced a number of significant advancement in our operations in the recent past years and I would thank my team for unflinching valuable contributions. We now have our own Global GAP Certified Trainer. Mr. Shaikh Yasir Adeel, Director of the company recently participated in an international training workshop "Global GAP Train-The-Public-Trainer Program" conducted by Agribusiness Support Fund (ASF) in collaboration with the USAID. The training has enabled us to act as mentor to mango growers.

"Over the course of the year, Mr. Yasir will train over 50 people across 5 farms for Global GAP certification. This kind of approach shall help us build both farmer capacity and consistency in our certification operation. We will develop a new, lower level farm assurance program to give mango growers a first step towards full integrated farm assurance. Both traditional practices and modern know-how are synchronized on the farm. This will help us build a strong platform for reassurance to consumers in a variety of markets.

"Our partnership between those who produce and those who sell will be stronger than ever. We will have more improved market access for food producers throughout the world. We have been successful to convince the producers to view the implementation of GAP as a good business investment to them."

He concluded: "All this has developed our influence as an innovative, unique solution provider - creating trust and reassurance for both the mango growers as well as our consumers worldwide."